ResearchPod

Storyteller and writer, Zakiya Mackenzie and Climate Justice Researcher Dr Alix Dietzel discuss "Why climate justice matters for all". Artist Rosa ter Kuile (RTiiiKA) highlights the importance of valuing all voices in an illustration inspired by the conversation.

Cabot Institute for the Environment experts Dr Daniel Haines and Dr Max Werner discuss Earthquakes and the Environment. Contemporary digital illustrator Parys Gardener creates an artistic interpretation of the conversation.

Cabot Institute for the Environment experts Professor Jane Memmott and Dr Tommaso Jucker discuss the true value of ecosystem services. Bristol artist Sophie Long shares an artistic interpretation of the conversation.

Cabot Institute for the Environment climate scientist Dr Eunice Lo and medical statistics Professor Richard Morris discuss Heatwaves and Health.  The conversation looks at the implications of heat on our health and the links between rising temperatures from climate change, increased occurrence of heatwaves and increased hospitalisations and deaths, and how many lives could be saved through climate...

Cabot Institute for the Environment experts Professor Dale Southerton and Professor Valeska Ting discuss "a whole systems approach to net zero". Engineer Dr Valeska Ting and social scientist Professor Dale Southerton are two academics from completely different disciplines, both working on net zero. In this episode they meet each other for the first time to discuss their net zero research...

Cabot Institute for the Environment experts Dr Kate Hendry and Dr Laurence Publicover discuss "the Ocean Floor: An alien commons?"  Geochemist Dr Kate Hendry and Dr Laurence Publicover, a senior lecturer in English, have been working closely together on ocean floor research. Listen to this fascinating conversation on how their two differing forms of research can come together to help und...

Cabot Institute for the Environment's Professor Rich Pancost and Roger Griffith MBE discuss "Power of People in climate action". Rapper and songwriter Consensus share a captivating interpretation of the conversation. This discussion covers the power of people, words and cultural change in the climate crisis and how community engagement and empowering communities will help us all. 

Professor Susan Parnell, who researches the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in African cities, talks to Bristol City Council's Allan Macleod about how the SDGs are implemented in the city of Bristol and what can be learned at the local scale in order to make global progress on the Goals.

Cabot Institute for the Environment scientists, Dr Gemma Coxon and Dr Ross Woods, highlight some surprising facts about the water system and how nature based solutions to drought and floods may not serve the purpose we want, especially if implemented without sufficient prior research.

The psychological contract has changed dramatically since the start of the pandemic, with the balance of power swinging towards the employee. In this episode, Professor Veronica Hope Hailey and her guest, Jane Cathrall, Executive Director, People Directorate at the Bank of England, discuss how leaders should respond to the new challenges of engaging employees and creating a sense of ‘community’ ar...

Trust, from employees, customers and other stakeholders, is core to responsible business. And since the pandemic, people expect even more from businesses, which are – according to the latest Edelman Trust Barometer -- the only institution trusted by the global public. In this episode Veronica and her guest, Brad Greve, Chief Financial Officer at BAE Systems, discuss what the pandemic has taught us...

As the rate of climate events increases, how do businesses respond, adapt and keep their staff safe? In this episode of Responsible Business: Leading the Way, Professor Veronica Hope Hailey, Dean of the University of Bristol Business School is joined by Sarah Kenny, CEO of BMT to discuss how businesses rise to modern challenges. Find out more - https://www.bristol.ac.uk/campaigns/responsible-busin...

Malaysia welcomes far more international students than any other country in SE Asia, yet it is losing talent faster than most with its brightest minds leaving the country to pursue careers overseas.  With Malaysia’s Higher Education Plan due to expire in 2025, this episode sets the scene for a series of podcasts that will explore how universities could turn the situation around – particularly the...

The government of Malaysia has set a target of making Malaysia a regional hub for startups by 2025. As of 2022, there were approximately 3,000 active startups in Malaysia, a stark increase from around 300 in 2013. However, whilst 30% of Malaysian startups have displayed consistent growth and profitability, about 1,800 startups struggle, with a 60% failure rate, especially within the first three ye...

It is believed that being more porous in nature will enable universities to create a talent pool of graduates with en entrepreneurial mindset and access to the very latest thinking, technology and innovation. But is this enough to stem the tide of talent leaving Malaysia for opportunities elsewhere? Featuring Professor Datuk Dr Paul Chan (HELP University), Professor Veronica Hope-Hailey and Profes...

What is community tech, and why do communities care about it? We discuss examples of community tech we’ve seen through our research to explore how communities are creating their own sociodigital futures and discover what can be learnt from community alternatives to big tech solutions.   With Anna Dent, Matt Dowse, Helen Manchester and Martin Parker. Find out more about our work with communities an...

A circular carbon economy – where carbon released from the Earth is captured and repurposed – is a promising concept, and CO2 conversion to sustainable products has been at the forefront of research. Dr Gary Grim at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA, provides a detailed comparison of available conversion processes with direct or indirect use of renewable electricity. Read more in Resea...

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR-Cas12a), discovered a few years ago, is a method that detects even small levels of pathogens. Professor Kevin J Zwezdaryk and researchers at the Tulane University School of Medicine, USA, are working on a cost-effective, CRISPR-Cas12a-based pathogen detection tool aiming to upgrade patient care. Read more in Research Features Read t...

Plant-based solutions for energy storage are gaining traction in the pursuit of greener technologies. Dr Jun Young Cheong from the University of Glasgow, UK, investigates the potential of using gum waste from a tropical tree to create a crucial component in lithium-ion batteries in search of a more sustainable future. Read the original research: doi.org/10.1016/j.jelechem.2024.118467

While many leaders and businesses are attempting to put the pandemic behind them and focus on the ‘new normal’, have we thought deeply enough about what we’ve learned and what it means for future crises? In this episode, Professor Veronica Hope Hailey and her guest Professor Evelyn Welch, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, discuss why everything is still to play for and the role we all...

'Big Data' has appeared more and more throughout boardrooms and executive suites, in order to determine how organisations extract value from information. Its potential impact on a firms' earnings forecasts is of great discussion, but no direct link to forecast frequency has been made yet.  Associate Professor Goh Beng Wee from Singapore Management University examines the interplay b...

Liquid crystal-based technologies could revolutionise the control of terahertz radiation — key to the future of high-bandwidth communications. Dr Masahito Oh-e from National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, considers how phase shifters and modulators may pave the way for faster, more efficient 6G networks. Read the original research: doi.org/10.1002/chem.201803330 Read more in Research Outreach

Pain isn't nice , but there are times when it’s necessary - If you don’t feel the pain you should, you’re at risk of doing yourself greater damage. If you feel pain you shouldn’t, that could the first signs of a deeper issue.  Professor Rayaz Malik and Dr Ioannis Petropolous talk about their work on a new, non-invasive, inexpensive way of detecting early stages of neurodegeneration that could...

Synthetic biology, as showcased by Stephen Freeland's work at UMBC, redefines biological systems for groundbreaking applications in biotechnology and medicine, promising to solve global challenges and unlock new frontiers in science. Or, at least, that’s what ChatGPT has to say about it.  Our interview also covers how Artificial Intelligence is changing the wet-lab experience of doing researc...

Until relatively recently, diabetes was a terminal condition. Today, over 1 in 10 people are living with it, which says something about the success of insulin as a treatment, and also the concerning state of global nutrition. So, we've probably got diabetes pretty well figured out. Right?   Dr Alexander Hamilton speaks with us about his research into alpha cells, amino acids, and why we might...